


Escape Clause

by MizJoely



Series: Flash Fic Fest [48]
Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: F/M, Sherlolly - Freeform, Sherlolly Appreciation Week 2019
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-01
Updated: 2019-04-01
Packaged: 2019-12-30 14:29:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 771
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18317141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MizJoely/pseuds/MizJoely
Summary: For Day 7 of Sherlolly Appreciation Week, a follow-up to my Day 3 story For the Sake of Law and Order (with a criminal Molly).





	Escape Clause

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to Mouse9 for reading this over for me <3

She wasn't surprised to see the visitor on the other side of the glass, not really. After all, she'd shocked him with her confession on the night of her arrest. She'd shocked herself as well; not because she hadn't realized the truth of the words, but because she'd long since resolved never to tell him. To let him wonder, or dismiss her as the liar she was.

But the words had slipped out...no, she'd never in her adult life just let something 'slip out'. No, she'd made a conscious choice. A decision.

She'd told him the truth. That she really did love him.

And now here he was, six months later, a month shy of her trial, to do what? Tell her he believed her, tell her he didn't believe her - to speak to her about something else entirely? She couldn't imagine what - as a witness for the prosecution, they had nothing more to say to one another.

As a bitter ex-lover...well. Who knew? His expression was resolute, his chin firm and lips tight, but other than that she could read nothing of his intentions.

Only one way to find out, then.

She lifted her hand to the phone hanging on the metal strut between the reinforced, shatterproof glass that divided them, and held it to her ear. "Hello, Sherlock."

"Hello, Molly." They studied one another, neither face giving anything away, and even though it meant he won, she spoke first.

"To what do I owe the honor of this visit? Come to wrest more information out of me? I've already told you I'll not confess to anything." She gave him a tight-lipped smile. "The burden of proof will remain squarely on the prosecution's shoulders."

"Molly, I just want you to do something very easy for me," he cut in, "and not ask why."

She studied him warily. What was he playing at? Was this one of his games? If so, she was tired of playing - probably why she'd gotten careless enough to allow herself to be caught - and wasted no time in telling him so. "Is this one of your stupid games?"

He shook his head, locking his gaze with hers. "No, it's not a game. I ... need you to help me."

She felt her senses sharpen; something else was going on here, but what?

"I need you to do something for me. It's very important. I can't say why, but I promise you it is."

"I'm not an experiment, Sherlock," she said, her tone warning but her gaze questioning.

"No, you're not," he agreed quietly. "And neither was our relationship, I understand that now. I was just a means to an end, even if you did say three words for me once without me asking you."

_Means. End. Three._

Her heart leapt, but she kept her expression wary, for any prying eyes that might be watching them. He remembered her code, and if he was saying what she thought he was saying… "What?" she asked. "What do you need me to do for you?"

"I need you to just tell the truth. When you're on the stand, tell the truth, don't wait until it's too late to help yourself. I promise you, it's the best thing you could do for yourself. Can you do that for me?"

She tilted her head to one side, still holding his gaze, then gave a tiny nod. Not agreeing to what he'd ostensibly told her, but showing her understanding of what he was really saying.

He nodded back as well, relief in his eyes he didn't bother to hide, and why should he? He'd apparently gotten what he wanted, and as he rose to leave, hanging up the phone, Molly watched.

_Truth. Stand. Wait._

She hid a tiny smile as she hung up her phone and waited to be escorted back to her cell.

Sherlock Holmes had just told her that she was never going to have to stand trial.

He had a plan to break her out.

' _Means.'_

They would be together.

' _End.'_

That he still loved her, despite knowing who and what she was.

' _Three.'_

That she could trust him.

' _Truth.'_

All she had to do was be patient.

' _Stand.'_

Don't do anything to jeopardize his plan.

' _Wait.'_

Her clever, clever boy. She smiled again as she was escorted to her cell, not hearing the clanging of the door as she sank down onto the hard bed, hugging her secret to her heart. A heart she'd once thought non-existent, dead in her chest even as she continued to live.

She could hardly wait to begin their new life together.

**Author's Note:**

> Additional TFP dialogue from the transcripts posted by Arianedevere on livejournal


End file.
